Door-operating mechanism for automobiles.



,W. G. SODT. DOOR OPERATING MEOHANISM'FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.'1Q| 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

n @nuez-wus w. G. S0111. DOOR OPERATING MECH-ANISM-FOH AUTOMOBILES.`

APPLICATION FILD FEB. l0. |9157 Patented 0151.19, 1915.

lol applied to all automob'iles'of ordinary make i WILLIAM e. som, lor DUBUQUE, IOWA.

noon-creanme MEcIIANIsIvI-FOR AU'IOMcrimes.`

Specification of Letters Patent.

' 'Patented 00u19, 1915.-

Appiieation mea February 1o, 1915. seria1No.7,414.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that'I, IVILLIAM G. SODT, a-

citizen of thel United States, residingv at Dubuque, in the c ounty of'Dubuojue and State of Iowa, have invented certain newv and useful Improvements-in Door-Operating'Mechanism for. Automobiles, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates\to door operating mechanism, and particularly to means for openingand closing-the rear doors of automobiles. o

The prima-ry 3 object of my invention 1s the provisionof meansv of the f character abovedescribed -so constructed thatythe rear `doors of automobilesmay beA operated from.

the yfront seat of the automobile.

A further'object of the'invention is thee provision of 'a very simple mechanism easily g-.fwhereby either one of the rear .doors may *be opened or-closedbyspeciiic latch operating devices mounted forward of the front seat "of' the automobile whereby the 'latches 'of the rear doors may be operated, and' door closing devices also disposed forward of the front seat whereby either one of the doors may be closed.

.30 of thefollowing description.

Other objects will appear in the course My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 shows a side elevation in dotted lines of an automobile and in full-lines my .mechanism applied to one of the -rear doors thereof; Fig. .)fis a plan-view7 of-the oonstruction shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a perspective detail view ofthe cable inclosing tube 2.; Fig. a is a perspective detail view of the latch disengaging mechanism; Fig. 'is

an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the door D, the latch and the latch disengag ing mechanism.l Fig. 6 is a detail fragmentary view of-one of the doors and the. adja-. cent casing and Showing the springs where` by the door is caused to' open.

Referring to these drawings, A designates an automobile ofany usual or ordinary make, and having the dashboard B, the foot boardA C and the'rear doors D. vDisposed beneath the Hoor of thel automobile and extendinglongitudinally therealong is a tubular casing 2 whichV opens at its forward end adjacent the foot boardand which at its rear .end has two divergently one door. applies to theother.

doorsis constructed in the samemanner and operatedv 1n the "same, manner by common operatmg means, hence the descr1pt1on of doors D is hinged to thebody of the auto mobile byfmea'ns ofthe hinges'4,.`and each door is-urged to an 1open position by means v.of springs 5 of any. suitable character. 'Each door 'is held closed by. means of a spring actuated 'latch bolt '6 which may be manually retracted by means'of the usual operating lever 7 disposed within a' recess in thejopen.

or inner faceof the'door'D All of these parts are as usually'constructed.

' Preferably disposed beneath the foot i board C is alever 8 which'is pivotally mounted at its lower end and whose free extending branches 3v leading respectively to a point. above the floor and adjacent theh1nge ends of the doors D. Each of these' 'Each of these end carries al pedal -9 whose shank projects 4 *through the lfoot board, the pedal being `placed inconvenient position to the footof the driver.

cable '10 which extends through the tube 2l and` which vhas branches 11 extending out To'the lever l8 is' connected a through the branches 3. and attached to the 'hinge' side of the respective doors, the cable being fastened to the door about one inch from the edge so as to give-sufficient lever 'ageto close-the door. 'It will now be understood that a pressure upon the pedal 9 will cause a-retration ofthe cable 10, which in turn will close either or .both of the doors against thevaction' of the springs In o rder that the pedal 9 shall not protrudeunduly beyond the foot board C and be in the A`way of the operator, a' light spring 12`is .preferably attached` to the lever S in such vmanner as tov withdraw the pedal This spring, however, is considerably lighter than the vsprings which vact to open .the

doors ,.and therefore this spring 12 does not prevent the automatic opening of therear doors vlwhen the latch bolts (i are released.

For the .purpose of releasing .the latch bolts G of the'doors I provide in any suitable position on the automobile forward of the frontv seat f and.. preferably upon the dash board B the pedals 13, each connected at its lower end to a bell crank lever 14, tothe other arm of 'which is connected a cable 15. These cables 4both pass downwardV through the dash board, which. may be formed withpassages for the purpose, to a relatively light and relatively small tube 16 which extends mally holds the downwardly rearward beneath the floor of the car and opens into the casing or tube '2. The cables 15 then pass intothis casing ortube 2, and from the tube 2 extend branch tubes 17 through vwhich .these cables 1 5 respectively pass, the tube 17 running to the bolt edge .of'each door., The cables then pass upward through the hollow side walls of the car, as

'indicated at 1,5 and are then each connected Alight spring 2l is connected to the horizontal arm of thebell crank lever and norextending arm 19 retracted Jf'rom en, ,fa ,fement with the boh;

f6. A spring '22 is also disposed 'upon the i ,so

dash board in such a positionas to urge the projection of the corresponding pedal 13. It will now be obvious that upon a depression of one or the other of the pedalsl one or the other of the operating cables will be retracted, thus actuating the corresponding bell'crank lever '18, and thus forcing the cor-- responding latch Aoutward from its keeper and permittingthe door to'open under the action of the spring. When .the door-opens under the action of the spring 5 the cable -10 and one of thebranches 1l of the cable will Ibe drawn taut, causing the projection of the pedal 9. YVhen itis desired to close the door the pedal 9 is depressed ,retracting the cable 10 and the branch connected with the open and causing vthe door to close against door', the action of the spring 5. The latch bolt Y is slightly beveled at its end so that it may be pushed back easily when the doorA is bedoor from thelfront seat. Thus the chaufteur does notl have to leave thefront seatot the vehicle in order to open `or close the door'. f .The doors are at all times entirely under the.

ing closed and whenthe bolt contact'swith the wall of the keeper.

My inventionit will be seen is verysimple and-permits the opening and closing of the control of the chauiiieur, `and yet the rear doors may be readily opened or closedfby the Voccupants of the rear seat if desired.

lVhile I have illustrated what I believe to be the best form of my invention, I wish it to be understood that I do not wish to be limited thereto as it is obvious that4 many changes might be made therein vwithout ldeparting from the spiritl thereof. i I-Iaving4 described my invention, claim is:

1. The combination with'a vehicle having doors and a 'spring urging the opening. of said doors; of a tube having branches opening adjacent the hinged edges of the doors, a cable in 'saidtube having branches conwhat I nected to the hinged' edges of the doors, a

connected to the cable pedal operatively beretracted to close whereby the cable may the doors against the action of the'springs. l

f a'latch mounted upon the door and engag- 'ing with the side wall of the vehicle, and vpedally actuated means forshifting the latch from its vengagement with 'the wall of the vehicle. v .i y

2. A vehicle having a pair of doors, springs urging said doors to ope'n position, latching members coacting with each door and lnormally holding. them closed, a tube disposed beneath the Hoor" of the vehicle and extending from the frontof the vehicle rearward and having branches 'extending toward the hinged` 'de of e'a'ch door and also having branches extending toward the free edge of veach within said tubevand having branches extending through ythe first named branches and operatively connected tothe respective doors at the hinged sides thereof, a vpedal mounted in the forward portion of the automobile and operatively j connected l' t'osaid cable to cause its retraction upon a'depression of the pedal to thereby cause the closing ofthe doors against the action vofsaidf springs, independent latch operating 'means disposed inthe forward portion of the vehicle, and cables extending from said ope'rating' means ,through said tuber and through the secondI named branches and'being connectedto said latching device.

WILLIAM G.-y sour.

" Witnesses:

' C. II. REYNoLDs,

' JNo. `KE IsER'..

door, a cable disposed 

